


let nobody dare confine us

by Nori



Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), Original Work
Genre: Action/Adventure, Coming of Age, Drabble Collection, F/M, Gen, Romance, Slice of Life, just some backstory stuff for my elf
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-07
Updated: 2017-11-07
Packaged: 2019-01-30 18:08:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12658728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nori/pseuds/Nori
Summary: All Shava had ever wanted was to prove to her snobby older sister that she wasn't a failure. Funny, how life turns out, isn't it?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, if you're actually reading this, thank you!?? My only goal here is to have an orderly collection of all the stuff I write for my fool child. Some of it is probably going to be overlapping, since I'm still trying to sort out some of the details of her backstory. :)
> 
> Title is from "The Way You Used To Do" by Queens of the Stone Age.

“And there you have it,” Maxwell says, waving his hand in a triumphant flourish. 

“It can’t be that easy,” Shava scoffs, waving her palm through the illusion. 

“It is, though,” Max laughs. He goes slowly through the gestures tied to casting minor illusion, watching her with a smile. “Just a wave of the hands.”

Frowning, Shava copies the motions, focused on the image of her favorite childhood book, but the magic doesn’t come. It doesn’t leap to her aid as it always seems to for Max, nor snap to follow her orders as it does for Leshanna, nor rise from somewhere deep inside her to twist the world around her as Rael had once described to her. 

“Magic is a waste of time,” Shava grunts, frustrated. “What will I ever use it for?”

She turns to Max, gearing up for another long argument about the merits of magic, but he’s just smiling at her, eyes alight. She finds herself smiling back, tentative but unable to stop. 

“You are pretty handy with a bow,” Max concedes, reaching out slowly to brush a wayward lock of hair out of her eyes. 

Shava preens at the praise. “Thank you. I guess you’re not bad, for a wizard.”

“Not bad?” Max crows, rocking his chair onto the back two legs, hand clasped over his chest. “I’m ‘not bad’ now? Shava, it’s almost like you’ve changed your mind about me!”

She taps her lip, playfully thoughtful, but she doesn’t really need to think about it. Though they’d clashed violently in the first days of their association, she’s grateful for the time they’ve spent together. He lives so vibrantly, pushing forward with every moment. It’s such a human condition, but Shava has found some measure of solace in striving to make the most of each day. A stark difference from the cool detachment of her own people. 

“Maybe I have,” she admits finally. The crash of his chair landing squarely on the ground again startles her, but the wide eyed surprise on his face is too funny not to laugh at. “You’ve certainly proven entertaining.”

“Oh,” he scoffs laughingly, leaning forward on the table and waggling a finger at her, “listen here, elf.”

She mimics his pose, waving a finger around mockingly. “Human.”

He grins wide, dark eyes dancing. “You know, you’re alright. Maybe I’ve changed my mind about you too.”

Shava is struck with an impulse then, and rashly, foolishly she follows it. She pops out of her chair and stretches over the table to plant a kiss on the corner of his smile. Leaning back, she winks. “I’m glad.”

And for the second time in minutes, he stares at her with shock slackening his features.


	2. Chapter 2

“Hey, Shava!” Max shouts from behind her, shoes slapping against the floor as he follows. “Shava, wait up!”

Shava fists her hands, marching faster. “I don’t have time right now,” she snaps over her shoulder. The sound of his footsteps vanishes briefly, then return faster. She grits her teeth, ignoring him as he draws alongside her. 

“It’ll only take a second,” he tells her, holding up his hands placatingly. She glares at him from the corner of her eye, and he grins sheepishly. “Please?”

She stops abruptly, turning on him. “I don’t have time for your games, Max,” she snarls. He winces as though her words have hit him physically, but there’s still a smile playing around the corners of his lips. 

“It’s not a game,” he says quietly. “I’m not trying to distract you from your studies.”

It’s Shava’s turn to wince now, discomfort pinching her brow. She should have known he wouldn’t let her little argument with Leshanna lie. Her parents’ cool indifference toward her choices barely registers, but Leshanna’s cutting derision is like a hot blade through the stomach. 

“You’re not distracting me,” Shava declares, but it’s hardly the whole truth. His presence in her life hasn’t been detrimental to her studies. Instead, he has opened her mind to a whole different way of uncovering secrets of the past with his rousing stories and little adventures outside the university’s walls. Why read from a book what you can see with your own eyes and touch with your own hands? 

“I think it’s fair to say that, at least in this moment, I’m distracting you,” Max chuckles, smiling. 

Shava sighs, trying to dislodge the hot shame from her sister’s biting words. It’s no fault of his, that Shava is a disappointment to her family. “Very well. You’re a little distracting,” she allows. “What was it you wanted from me?”

His face lights up. He points a finger at her, thumb raised upward, and quickly bends his wrist back toward himself. It’s a motion she does not understand, but has come to see as something positive, if a little cheeky. “I wanted to show you something.”

Shava quirks an eyebrow at him.

“Whatever your sister thinks,” he begins.

“ _Max_ ,” Shava interrupts warningly. 

“First of all, she’s _wrong_ ,” he continues firmly. “And secondly, you’re the smartest, most dedicated, and most fun person I’ve ever met.”

She flushes at his praise, shoving lightly at his shoulder. 

“You’re my best friend, Shava Galanodel but your sister is an absolute snob,” Max goes on, laughter starting to bubble in his voice. 

“Insulting my sister is not _showing_ me something, Maxwell,” Shava retorts, but it’s hard to keep her voice stern. His joy is always so infectious. 

“Right,” he announce, clapping his hands together and rubbing his palms briskly. He sidles closer to her, until their shoulders bump together, and holds his palms out ahead of them as if he’s cupping water. Lips tipped up in a smile, he begins to whisper an incantation, just under his breath. His eyes cut to her, and he tips his head toward his palms. 

She forces her eyes away from the pleasure written on his features to look at his hands. There’s a shimmer building, the hint of an object taking form, and as he speaks the last word, a single red rose appears in the gentle cradle of his palm. 

“Ta-da,” Max murmurs quietly. “A pretty rose just for you.”

Shava exhales a laugh, still delighted by these simple displays of magic even after months of seeing them. 

“It’s lovely,” she tells him, meeting his eyes. She’s surprised to find him watching her, mouth slack and eyes terribly tender. That look kindles the odd, twisting warmth in her chest; a feeling she has never known with anyone else. 

Heartbeat quickening, Shava swirls her fingers through the image of the rose, breaking the illusion. She settles her fingers across his palm, cupping her other hand around his knuckles

“Max,” she says, squeezing his hand, “thank you.”

He watches her dumbly for a moment, blinking with surprise. “Uh, for what?”

She pops onto her toes to kiss his cheek, laughing quietly as his face reddens. 

“For distracting me, of course.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I commissioned the wonderful [cynicalbounce](http://cynicalbounce.tumblr.com/) over on tumblr for this scene. It's so beautiful, I may never recover honestly. 


End file.
